Bengaluru's burning problem: Its garbage

There should be segregation at source, says an expert, so that the garbage can be handled at the ward itself and does not need to be carried long distances.

Much of the solid waste from the city is rich in organic matter and can easily be converted into compost at source and used as manure.

Citizens' groups allege that the garbage problem does not get resolved because solid waste disposal is a big source of corruption, the number of trucks on the ground removing garbage being less than the sanctioned.

Mayor D Venkatesh Murthy has not helped the civic administration by himself coming under a cloud.

Bengaluru's burning problem: Its garbage

On the other hand, Kanpur, a major city in Uttar Pradesh, launched a public-private partnership in 2008 under which a private entity was given a contract to collect and transport waste and land to set up a tipping platform; several units to take care of pre-segregation, composting, plastic segregation and manufacture of refuse derived fuel and briquettes; and a secured landfill.

Only two per cent of the garbage collected is now finally deposited in the landfill.

Pune has gone through the familiar sequence of landfills not operating due to local protest and threatening to plunge the city in garbage.

Bengaluru's burning problem: Its garbage

The municipal corporation, the social swing of the local chamber of commerce and a cooperative of garbage collectors have joined to make the largest ward zero garbage exporting area and then take the solution to the rest of the city.

The aim is to ensure that all garbage is segregated by households, so that there are no public garbage bins.

The recyclable part of the garbage is then sold off by the collectors and the wet part is converted into energy at a local treatment plant and its output used to power streetlighting.

Bengaluru's burning problem: Its garbage

The garbage is collected by workers, compacted, transported to the central facility and converted into items of value like compost, fuel and tiles for pavements made from construction debris.

A waste to energy power plant is now running at 15 Mw capacity.

The genesis of the present problem in Bengaluru goes back a few months with the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board closing the solid waste treatment plant and landfill at Mavallipura after villagers in the area alleged that unscientific methods were being used at the landfill, posing a serious health hazard.

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Image: A child sweeps the floor at a rescue home.Photographs: Parth Sanyal/Reuters